Meaning

noun the subject matter of a conversation or discussion

noun something (a person or object or scene) selected by an artist or photographer for graphic representation

noun a branch of knowledge

originFrom Middle English subget, from Old French suget, from Latin subiectus (“lying under or near, adjacent, also subject, exposed”), as a noun, subiectus (“a subject, an inferior”), subiectum (“the subject of a proposition”), past participle of subiciō (“throw, lay, place”), from sub (“under, at the foot of”) + iaciō (“throw, hurl”), as a calque of Ancient Greek ὑποκείμενον (hupokeímenon).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0